Chico (Images of America)

Edward Booth, John Nopel, Keith Johnson, and Darcy Davis

Alum
Edward Booth (’92) is the primary author of Chico, part of the Images
of America series published by Arcadia Press in Mount Pleasant, South
Carolina. Released in November, the book is co-authored by Keith Johnson,
history professor emeritus and archivist for the Butte County Historical
Society; local historian John Nopel, also an alum (’35); and alum
Darcy Davis (’82), a local photojournalist.

Booth, a life-long resident of Chico, has always been fascinated by historical
photos of Chico. He worked more than 15 years as a sports writer and copyeditor
for the Chico Enterprise-Record. His father, Eddie Booth, spent 41 years
at the newspaper, retiring as managing editor.

Nopel made his large collection of historical photographs of Chico available
to Booth for the book. His photos were augmented by images from the Butte
County Historical Society archives, overseen by Johnson, and modern-day
photos by Davis. The photographs, which span 145 years, document the changes
in the Chico landscape in that time.

The Images of America Series documents the history of a town or region
from the earliest days of photography to the end of the 20th century.
Chico joins titles on other American communities, including metropolitan
areas such as Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C., and smaller cities
such as Salem, Ohio; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Folsom, California,
and our own Magalia and Sterling City.”